Go on, scoot

Australia is finally catching up with Europe and Asia, with our motorists joining the scooter craze to save time and money - and arrive smiling at work.

Seven years ago there were 1490 scooters registered in Australia. Last year that number was close to 11,000 and industry figures show scooter sales jumped 30 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

"I absolutely love it. I look forward to getting on it in the morning and getting home in the evening. It is actually a fun way to commute rather than being stuck in the train smelling the armpits of the person beside you.

"You feel like you are just flying along. There is a sense of freedom, the wind on your face."

And they look "absolutely fabulous", Putt says of her bright red 150cc Vespa. "I'm very proud of it. I find myself shining it up at the lights occasionally."

Commuting to work by scooter has halved Putt's travel time between Bondi Beach and the CBD and, instead of spending $42 a week on public transport, it costs her only $6 in petrol. Parking in her building, which costs $60 a day at casual rates for cars, is free for scooters. "I don't know how much longer that will last.

"In January this year there were two scooters there [in the parking bay] and now there are probably five or six brand new Vespas. It is hilarious."

Anna Dutton, 30, has been riding a scooter in Melbourne for two years and has noticed a sudden increase in riders on the road.

"Since I've started riding a bike, there has definitely been a big increase - even in just my friends getting scooters. And there are a lot more female scooter riders," she says.

This year people have been particularly curious about scooter riding, Dutton says. "People wind down their car windows at the lights and ask me questions about it: do I feel safe? When I pull over, people stop and start asking questions as well."

Dutton says she generally feels safe on her 50cc Vespa but is careful to avoid being in cars' blind spots along multi-lane roads and of steering clear of tram tracks, which can get slippery. She has not had an accident in her two years of riding and she feels safer now that there are more scooters on the road because motorists are becoming more aware.

In Melbourne scooters and motorbikes can be parked anywhere so long as they don't cause an obstruction - the convenience of being able to park outside her city office spurred Dutton to buy her scooter.

"The financial benefits of it were a surprise. It is dirt cheap," she says.

Insurance and registration are almost half the price of a car and it costs Dutton $6 a fortnight in petrol to travel each day between St Kilda and the city.

"It is so much fun, I love riding it," she says. But there is a drawback. "The only thing is, it messes up my hair and make-up. And I tend to wear skirts at work so I have to change."

Chris Ljungdahl, the sales manager at Sydney's Action Motorcycles, says scooter sales have soared this year. About 80 per cent of people who come to the shop to buy their first motorbike are women buying scooters, he says.

"With fuel prices the way they are, people are ... looking for alternatives. Scooters are cost-effective, time-effective and they are good for the environment as well. They really will save the environment; they can have a massive [beneficial] effect on pollution and congestion on our roads."

Vespas are big-sellers because of their European styling. Their popularity means they hold their value well, according to Ljungdahl. "People are not just buying a bike, they are buying an image and a lifestyle," he says.

Hollie Black, from the Australian Scooter Federation, says scooters are attracting people aged 18-78 because they are making people's lives easy and fun. "It is just twist and go, throttle and brake, they are fully automatic."